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I hit my alarm and fell back in bed. Exams had finished a few days ago, so having nothing to do, I hugged my pillow and drifted back to sleep. But I woke suddenly and panicked when I remembered that I had a flight to catch.
As the temperatures in Silicon Valley soared, I ran out of my apartment like a lunatic and took off for SFO.
The flight to China was over ten hours long. During a brief layover in Seoul, I took a seat in an empty area at my gate. While reading my book, A Foreigner’s Guide to Shanghai, a man slipped into the chair opposite from me.
“You look like a tourist,” he scoffed.
“I guess,” I replied, as I looked up to see a young man with curly dark hair and sapphire colored eyes. I couldn’t help noticing that he had the type of smooth skin that most women desire. In fact, his complexion rivaled that of the Korean model in the poster by the Duty-Free section of Incheon International Airport.
He chuckled. “Let me guess, this is your first time to China?”
“How did you know?”
“No one who’s ever been to China would be so blatant about being ... fresh off the boat.”
“Right,” I murmured as I ran off to the restroom.
While walking through the immaculately clean airport, I thought about Dad because he was born in Korea over sixty years ago. He spent at least three years at an orphanage before his adoption.
Twenty minutes later, after boarding the plane, I heard a familiar voice quip, “Well, well ... so we meet again.”
“It’s a small plane,” I noted while sitting down in an aisle seat next to the stranger I met at the gate.
“Why Shanghai?”
“I’m visiting my husband.”
“Your husband?” he asked with disbelief.
“Yes,” I insisted.
“Wearing that much perfume?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I reached into my bag to find my headphones.
“My name is Daniel, what’s yours?”
I sighed, took a deep breath and said, “Ralph.”
“Ralph? Your name is not really Ralph.”
“Yes, my name is really Ralph,” I lied. “My father always wanted a son, but got me instead.”
“Okay, Really Ralph, nice to meet you. But I think I’ll call you Batman.”
I put on my headphones and increased the volume. When the plane landed, I jumped up to get my carry-on from the overhead bin.
I was going to ignore Daniel, but on reconsideration asked, “Do you want me to retrieve your luggage from the overhead bin?”
He grinned and said, “Are you trying to emasculate me?”
I smiled, turned to follow exiting passengers, and briskly walked off the plane.
Daniel chased after me and said, “Batman, since we’re both strangers in this foreign country, let’s exchange numbers.”
“I’d love to, but I don’t have a phone.”
“C’mon, one coffee, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Um,” I stammered.
“At the very least, we’d have a horror story to tell our friends.”
“Your friends must hear a lot of stories,” I joked.
Daniel pulled out his business card, handed it to me, and said, “Call me, Batman.”
***
I exited immigration, entered the airport’s arrival section, and saw an older man in a gray uniform holding a sign with my name on it. I walked up, introduced myself, and he enthusiastically welcomed me. I followed him to a company van where he loaded my luggage.
As the van flew down the highways of Shanghai, I gazed at the city. It was a paradoxical mixture of ancient and modern, as well as Western and Eastern.
An hour later, we pulled up to a tall tower. The driver opened the door and I hopped out. We passed through glass doors and walked across marble floors. The concierge briefly acknowledged us as my escort barked something I didn’t comprehend.
Minutes later, I was greeted by Janet Perkins, the office manager of the law firm where I would work.
“Lana, we meet at last,” she said.
“Ms. Perkins, it’s great to meet you.”
“Please, call me Janet and now follow me with your things.” She took me to an apartment on the 10th floor.
“This is such an exquisite place,” I remarked appreciatively.
“Before you get too comfortable, there’s some bad news,” Janet warned.
“Bad news?”
“The authorities recently blocked Facebook, but don’t worry. We’re working it out. You’ll soon have access.”
I was less surprised about the government blocking Facebook than I was about the fact that my boss encouraged using it.